TheLOuisville Cardinal
Vol. XLVI NO. 21 Rootn 117, Otter HaD, LouisYille, Ky. 40298 Feb. 21, 197S
Gibson Girls · spark
controversy at U of L
by Kenny Vandevelde
Last Tuesday afternoon, the newly
formed "Gibson Girls" club locked horns
with the feminist movement, and it
appears that both sides won.
The Gibson Girls is a campus
organization of about 40 girls~ formed in
January under the leadership of
sophomore Cara Knop.
According to a letter written by Head
Football Coach Vince Gibson, founder of
the club, the purpose of the Gibson Girls
"is presenting the University of Louisville
to a perspective athlete during his visit to
campus."
The letter continued, "Some of the
activities of th~ Gibson Girls will include
campus tours for prospects, dating
prospects, and assisting at various football
functions.
The controversy began when the
letter, sent to every girl living in the
dormitories, started to circulate around
campus. A number of students saw the
letter and decided the organization was
exploitative of women and sexist in
nature. Several students took their
complaint to A&S Professors Lucy
Freibert Mary K. Tachau, and Barbara
White, and told them they wanted to
publish a protest in the Cardinal.
The professors advised the students
not to take he issue to the newspaper
initially, but to go through channels.
Mter consulting with A&S Dean A. J.
Slavin, the professors sought a meeting
with Vice-President William F. Ekstrom
to discuss the matter with him.
use the attractiveness of young women to
recruit athletes, or professors or anything
else."
Chairman of the HPER department
Oark Wood countered, "Don't you
believe that if we have young ladies on
this campus who feel comfortable in this
role, why shouldn't they be allowed to do
it?"
Freibert replied that she objected not
to supporting athletic recruitment, but to
the fact that women were singled out
from the student body as a whole and
used "as objects of attraction."
She said she also objected tc
"identifying them (the Gibson Girls) witll
a term that has sexist overtones ot
underton~s."
"Does "the university want to give that
image to a larger civic community?" she
asked.
Cara Knop, the organization's
president protested that the, use of
women "as objects of attraction ... ha:
nothing to do with it at all." She noted
that the letter was sent to every girl in tht
dorm and that "anybody could be a
member."
Athletic Director Dave Hart told the
meeting that Coach Gibson had first
organized the Gibson Girls at Kansas
State University, where he was football
coach until last December. He showed
those present a photograph of the Kansas
State Gibson Girls, a squad of about
twenty women dressed in purple
uniforms.
He added that when Gibson came to
Louisville, he decided to bring the idea
with him.
Hart also said the University of
(Continued on page 2)
Leon Bibb, folk singer, and Broadway star, spoke in the Distinguished Lecture Series
last Thursday (Feb. 13) during Negro History Week. Bibb was presented an honorary
doctoral degree by the university .
When the professors arrived at the
meeting, they found a room filled with
about 40 people, including about ten
Gibson Girls, several football players, and
representatives of the dean of students
office, the president's office, the Health
Education and Recreation department,
and the athletic department.
Ekstrom began the meeting by
suggesting that the four explain their
objections to the organization.
Cheating admitted by pre-meds
Slavin, one of the ftrst to speak,
questioned ''whether the university
wishes to be in the position of seeming to
Gibson Girls President Cara Knop.
by Kenny Vandevelde
Nearly one-half (44%) of the
premedical students at tJ of L have
cheated on an exam, accordil)g to a
survey conducted by Bob Eilers,
president of the pre-medical honorary,
Alpha Epsilon Delta.
Eilers gave the confidential
questionnaire to a sample of 180 pre-med
students last November. The survey -was
designed to explore the ethics of the
students.
When asked, "Have you ever
~rsonally cheated on an exam?" 44%
said "yes" and 56% said "no."
Of those who admitted to cheating,
nearly three-fourths (71.4%) said they
cheated on "almost none of the exams."
One-fourth (26%) said they cheated on "a
minority of the exams" while 3% said
they cheated on "half of the exams.'
The students were also asked a
hypothetical question about cheating: "If
you ever had the opportunity to cheat on
an exam without being caught, and if you
did not cheat you would get an F rather
an A in the course," what would you do?
Eleven per cent said they would
definitely cheat, 26% said they would
probably cheat, and 35% said they
definitely not cheat. The remaining 28%
said they didn't know.
The students were asked, in addition,
how often they had seen other pre-med
students cheat on an exam. One-third
(31.5%) said they had "frequently" seen
other pre-med cheating, while half ( 49%)
said xthe had "rarely" seen it and
one-fifth (19.5%) said they had never
seen other pre-meds cheating.
The survey dealt with several other
topics besides cheating. .
The students, in one question, were
asked to rank a- list of twelve character
traits, in the order of importance, for a
good physician.
The order, after ranking was as
follows:
Dedication,
Concern for the welfare of others,
Intelligence,
Ability to accept responsibility,
lloncsty ,
Realistic understanding of various
situations,
Leadership,
Experience,
Amiable personality,
Participation in community and
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